I didn't say they had a good case for libel but rather that they might
try such a case to suppress a forum.  I doubt the people that sponsor
most forums have deep enough pockets or desire to get into a protracted
legal wrangle just to continue doing so.

Don't ever imagine lawsuits are only about "justice".  There is enough
history of corporate legal foot dragging just to bleed the smaller guy's
resources dry.  The idea in such suits is not to win the suit but rather
to make the perceived problem go away simply by delay and intimidation.
This is why almost always a lawyer will first write a letter requesting
"cease and desist" first - the threat of action alone may be enough to
get the desired effect.

-----Original Message-----
From: veritas-bu-bounces at mailman.eng.auburn.edu
[mailto:veritas-bu-bounces at mailman.eng.auburn.edu] On Behalf Of "Koster,
Phil"
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 9:52 AM
To: veritas-bu
Subject: Re: [Veritas-bu] Fame at last.

I think companies would be hard pressed to get libel suits against forum
members like here.  The problems we are raising here we are having.
It's not slander or libel if it is true.  If they had half a brain they
would be monitoring forums like this and forwarding some of the feedback
to the software engineers to try and get the fixes done before a support
case is created.  I don't think I've ever seen that happen though.  At
best you might see an engineer that works for the company monitoring the
forum but even that is rare in my experience.

As far as quoting without permission, it all goes back to the
expectation of privacy on the internet.  The way the laws are right now,
if you post to something like this you're making a public statement
which is eligible to be quoted.  Just like if you yelled it out loud on
a public street.  That's why when I was in the U.S. Army they told us
our official statement on all issues was always "No comment" unless
otherwise directed.  If you got quoted saying anything at all there was
a possibility of getting in serious trouble.  Even if the statement was
true.  I was once even told (jokingly) not to acknowledge the color of
the sky or the grass.

Phil
456-3136

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Lightner [mailto:jlightner at water.com] 
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 9:30 AM
To: Mansell, Richard; veritas-bu at mailman.eng.auburn.edu
Subject: Re: [Veritas-bu] Fame at last.

Yep.  My company wouldn't let me interview.

Interesting that the guy says he's "unaware" of the issues.  Do you
suppose support doesn't report the issues or that he just makes it his
business to stay unaware so that he can make comments like that to
reporters?

I didn't really see them mention the scheduling issues that seem to have
been a lot of the talk here.   

The downside to an article like this is that pinhead execs instead of
deciding to fix the problems may decide it is better to suppress forums
like this and start lawsuits for libel to do that.

-----Original Message-----
From: veritas-bu-bounces at mailman.eng.auburn.edu
[mailto:veritas-bu-bounces at mailman.eng.auburn.edu] On Behalf Of Mansell,
Richard
Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 8:39 PM
To: veritas-bu at mailman.eng.auburn.edu
Subject: [Veritas-bu] Fame at last.

I see some of you were also contacted by Sharon at Computerworld:-

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2006/090506-users-suffer-major-problems
-with.html 


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